Verification of Coulomb’s law using Coulomb balance

Objectives:
(i) To study Coulomb's force as a function of the distance between two charges.
(ii) To study Coulomb's force as a function of charge.
(iii) To determine Coulomb’s constant

Introduction:

The fundamental question in electrostatics is, given a set of charges located at certain
positions, what would be the force on a given charge at a given position? The solution of this
question is an empirical law that governs the forces (of repulsion or attraction) between two
charges – the Coulomb’s law. This electrostatic force or Coulomb’s force is extremely strong
in magnitude. For example, if one gram of protons and one gram of electrons are separated by
1 meter distance, the attractive Coulomb’s force between them will be 1.5 x 1023 N. This is
roughly the force needed to lift an object from the surface of the Earth with a mass about 1/5
that of the moon- not a small force. However, it is not so easy to measure such a force in the
laboratory. Reason, the very magnitude of the force itself and secondly the tiny charge
carriers as well as extremely mobile nature of the electrons. Therefore, while we can measure
gravitational force by simply weighing an object, one needs a very delicate instrument such
as a Coulomb balance to measure the much stronger Coulomb’s force. Coulomb torsion
balance occupies an extremely important place in the history of physics. Using this balance,
Coulomb in 1785 developed a method for measuring the electrostatic force between two
charged objects and confirmed that it depends on the charge and inverse square of the
distance between two charged objects.

Theory:

If q1 and q2 are two point charges separated by distance R, then Coulomb’s law is expressed
as:
௤ ௤
‫݇ = ܨ‬௘ ோభ మమ (1)

where ke is the Coulomb constant. In SI units, the value of ke is 8.9875 X 109 Nm2/C2.
Coulomb’s force acts along the direct line of separation between the two charges. Depending
on the like or unlike nature of the point charges, the force is attractive or repulsive,
respectively. Coulomb’s force varies directly with the amount of charge and indirectly with
R2. A torsion balance gives a direct and reasonably accurate measurement of the Coulomb
force. The validity of Coulomb’s law has been subjected to intense scrutiny. The inverse
square behaviour with the charge separation distances appears almost exact. One may write
Coulomb force as, ‫ ∝ ܨ‬1/ܴ ଶାఌ , where ߝ is the deviation from the inverse square behaviour.
Experimentally, one may fix limits on the maximum magnitude of ߝ, depending on the
sensitivity and accuracy of the experiment. Value of ߝ determined by Cavendish and Maxwell
in earlier times were < 10−2 and < 10−6, respectively. With modern experiments this has
improved to < 10−16. Today, Coulomb force is believed to obey inverse square behaviour
exactly. Another amazing aspect of the Coulomb law is the range of length scales where it
has been tested and found valid. Coulomb’s law is confirmed down to length scales of
10−15 m while measurements on the magnetic field of Jupiter have confirmed this law to the
large length scales of 108 m.

Coulomb’s torsion balance:

The historical torsion balance designed by Coulomb is shown
in Fig.1. It comprised of a cylindrical glass case and closed by
a lid from which a glass tube emerges out. The tube ends with
a piece of metal from which a torsion fibre is suspended. This
fibre holds a horizontal needle made of lac, with a brass disc
A at one end and a sphere at the other. The height of the
needle is adjusted by a knob which is turned to wind the
suspending thread on a horizontal axis. This axis is mounted
on a revolving disc on which is engraved a scale calibrated in Fig. 1
degrees. The second sphere B is suspended through a hole on the lid of the glass case. B is
charged outside the case and placed back touching the brass disc and thereby charging it too.
The two charged objects were found to repel one another, twisting the fibre through a certain
angle, which could be read from a scale on the instrument. By knowing the angle, Coulomb
was able to calculate the force between the balls.
Faraday’s ice pail:
To demonstrate the effect of electrostatic induction on a conducting container, Faraday used a
metal pail meant for holding ice. The experiment shows that an electric charge enclosed
inside a conducting shell induces an equal charge on the outside of it. It also demonstrates the
principles behind electromagnetic shielding normally used in the Faraday cage. The ice pail
experiment was the first precise quantitative experiment on electrostatic charge. Charge
carried by an object can be measured using an electrometer by placing the object in a
grounded ice pail.
Unit of charge:
Because of the difficulty of making accurate electrostatic measurements directly, the SI unit
of charge, the coulomb (C), is defined in terms of the unit of electric current, the ampere (A).
If a steady current of one ampere is flowing through a wire, then one coulomb is the amount
of charge passing through any cross section of that wire in one second, or 1 A = 1 C/s. The
charge on a single electron is 1.602 × 10-19 C.

Description of the set up:

Fig. 2: Picture of the complete set up

The complete set up used in this experiment is shown in Figure 2. The PASCO Model ES-
9070 Coulomb Balance is a delicate torsion balance that can be used to investigate the force
between charged objects. A conductive sphere with radii of 1.9 cm is mounted on a rod,
counterbalanced, and suspended horizontally from a thin torsion wire. The torsion wire is
connected to the torsion knob, passing through the counterweight vane, and connected to the
torsion wire retainer. The torsion knob is attached to a degree scale, which indicated how
many degrees the knob was turned. Another identical sphere is mounted on a slide assembly
so that it can be positioned at various distances from the suspended sphere.
To perform the experiment, both spheres are charged, and the sphere on the slide assembly is
placed at fixed distances from the equilibrium position of the suspended sphere. The
electrostatic force between the spheres causes the torsion wire to twist. The angle through
which the torsion wire must be twisted to re-establish equilibrium is directly proportional to
the electrostatic force between the spheres. One can verify the inverse square relationship and
the charge dependence using the balance and any electrostatic charging source. A stable
kilovolt power supply (0-6.6 kV) is used to charge the spheres. An electrometer and a
Faraday ice pail are provided for accurate measurement of the charge on the spheres. For
more detail information about the set up and initial adjustment, please refer the company
manual.
Corrections to the data
The inverse square relationship has been found to deviate at short distances due to the fact
that the charged spheres are not simply point charges. A charged conductive sphere, if it is
isolated from other electrostatic influences, acts as a point charge. The charges distribute
themselves evenly on the surface of the sphere, so that the centre of the charge distribution is
just at the centre of the sphere. However, when two charged spheres are separated by a
distance that is not large compared to the size of the spheres, the charges will redistribute
themselves on the spheres so as to minimize the electrostatic energy. The force between the
spheres will therefore be less than it would be if the charged spheres were actual point
charges.
A correction factor can be used to account for this deviation. Using method of image charge,
a first order correction, B, can be calculated as
௔య
‫ = ܤ‬1 − 4 ோయ (2)
where a equals the radius of the spheres and R is the separation between spheres. Thus the
corrected Coulomb force can be written as
௤భ ௤మ
‫ܨ‬௖௢௥௥ = ‫ܤ‬. ݇௘ ோమ
(3)

Torsion constant of the fibre:

When the torsion fibre is twisted by an angle θ, the resulting torque is proportional to θ. In
the present set up since the torque arm is always the same, the torsion force becomes
proportional to θ. Thus
‫ܨ‬௧௢௥ = ‫ܭ‬௧௢௥ . θ (4)
where Ktor is the proportionality constant is termed as torsion constant Ktor. The value Ktor can
be determined by measuring torsion force as a function of θ and calculating Ktor from the
slope of a graph plotted between Ftor ~ θ. Details about this measurement is provided in the
company manual. The value of Ktor is pre-determined following the suggested method and
hence you don’t have perform this part during your experiment. At equilibrium Coulomb
force Fcorr is balanced by Ftor. Hence using Eqns (3) and (4), a general working formula can
be derived showing the relation between the angle of twist, charge on the spheres and the
separation distance between them:
࢑ࢋ ࢗ૚ ࢗ૛
ࣖࢉ࢕࢘࢘ = (5)
ࡷ࢚࢕࢘࢘ ࡾ૛

where ߴ௖௢௥௥ = ߴ/‫ ܤ‬and Ktorr = .....

Operating Tips:

This experiment works best in winter when the air is dry and charge will not leak rapidly
from the spheres. Keep the balance away from the walls or people which might be charged.
Stand behind and away from the balance, and touch ground to lose any charge on yourself.
After charging the spheres, turn off the power supply immediately. Keep your hands as far as
possible from the sphere while charging it. If the charge seems to be leaking away rapidly,
clean the insulators with alcohol. Note that the high voltage supply is turned all the way up to
around 6kV. Do not touch the end of the high voltage probe or else you will receive a
moderate shock. The shock is moderate because the high voltage supply has a very large
resistor in series with the probe, limiting the current flow to a safe level.

Procedure:

(A) Force as a function of distance:

1. Go through the Precautions/Tips list provided at the end of the manual and follow it
strictly for better results.
2. Before beginning the experiment make sure that the spheres are fully discharged (touch
them with a grounded probe) and move the sliding sphere as far as possible from the
suspended sphere.
3. The coulomb balance is pre-adjusted and aligned and usually ready for the experiment.
Just ensure that the torsion dial is at 00. In case not, do some fine adjustment by
appropriately rotating the bottom torsion wire retainer until the pendulum assembly is at
its zero displacement position as indicated by the index marks.
4. Switch on the high voltage power supply to set the voltage output at 6-7 kV and then
switch off. One terminal of the power supply should be grounded.
5. With the spheres still at maximum separation, charge both the spheres to a potential of 6-7
kV, by touching them one by one with a charging probe. Immediately after charging the
spheres, turn the power supply off to avoid high voltage leakage effects.
6. Position the sliding sphere at a position of about 7-8 cm. Due to same charge on both
spheres, the suspended sphere moves away from the sliding sphere to an equilibrium
position. Adjust the torsion knob as necessary to balance the forces and bring the
pendulum back to the zero position. Repeat this measurement several times, until your
result is repeatable to within ± 10. Record the distance (R) and the angle (θ) in Table 1.
7. Separate the spheres to their maximum separation and make sure that they are fully
discharged. Keeping the supply voltage same, repeat steps 4-5 by positioning the sliding
sphere at different separation distances in the range 7-12 cm in steps of 0.5cm. Record all
your data.
8. To measure charge on the spheres (both the spheres
acquire same charge), you need to use a third
conducting sphere identical to the other two which
is attached to an insulating thread. Make sure that it
is discharged by touching it to a grounded probe.
9. You will also need to know the effective
capacitance C of the electrometer, ice pail and the
connecting cords when they are connected. Use an
LCR meter once to record this value.
10. Now, using the desired potential from the power supply, charge the sliding sphere. Hold
the third sphere by the insulating thread, touch it to the charged sphere first and then to the
inner conductor of the Faraday ice pail as shown in Fig. 3. Since the capacitance of the ice
pail and electrometer is much greater than that of the sphere (you can verify this), virtually all
of the charge q is transfer on to the ice pail.
11. Note down the voltage reading (V) of electrometer. The charge on the sliding sphere q,
can now be determined using the equation q = 2CV. The factor 2 arises because the third
sphere acquires only half of the actual charge on the sliding sphere.
(B) Force as a function of charge:
1. In this part, keeping the separation distance constant, the spheres are charged to different
values and the corresponding torsion angles are noted.
2. Make sure again that the spheres are fully discharged (touch them with a grounded probe)
and move the sliding sphere as far as possible from the suspended sphere.
3. Ensure that the set up is balanced with the torsion dial at 00.
4. Set the power supply at 2 kV and switch off. Charge the two spheres separately by
switching on the power supply now. Thus both spheres are ideally charged to the same
value.
5. Quickly move the sliding sphere to a particular separation distance (choose a value
between 8 and 10 cm). The suspended sphere is deflected away from the equilibrium
position. Note the angle rotated to bring the balance back to equilibrium.
6. Keeping R constant, repeat steps 4-5 each time charging the spheres to different values by
setting the power supply at various voltages in the range 2 – 6kV.
7. Follow steps 9 and 10 from section A to measure the charge on the spheres for each supply
voltage.

Observations:

Ktorr = ...... C = ....... B = .....

Table -1: Supply voltage = ..... Charge on each sphere = ....

Sl# ܴ ߴ ߴ௖௢௥௥

Table – 2: R = .....

Sl# Supply voltage Charge ߴ ߴ௖௢௥௥

Graphs and analysis:

1. Using data from section A plot ߴ௖௢௥௥ ~ R and fit an appropriate function to check
inverse square relation. Justify the deviations in your data.
2. Plot ߴ௖௢௥௥ ~ (1/R2), fit the data with a straight line.
3. Plot ߴ௖௢௥௥ ~ (q2), fit the data with a straight line.
(C) Determination of Coulomb’s constant:

Determine Coulomb’s constant from the slopes of graphs 2 and 3.

Precautions/Tips for accurate result:

1. If you live in an area where humidity is always high, and if you have no facilities for
controlling humidity, the experiment will be difficult, if not impossible, to perform. Static
charges are very hard to maintain in a humid atmosphere because of surface conductivity.
2. As with any quantitative electrostatic experiment, things like a charged shirt sleeve, an
open window, an excessively humid day etc can affect your experiment. However, if you
carefully follow the tips listed below, you have got a good start toward a successful
experiment.
3. Position the torsion balance at least two feet away from walls or other objects which could
be charged or have a charge induced on them. When performing experiments, stand directly
behind the balance and at a maximum comfortable distance from it. This will minimize the
effects of static charges that may collect on clothing.
4. Avoid wearing synthetic fabrics, because they tend to acquire large static charges. Short
sleeve cotton clothes are best, and a grounding wire connected to the experimenter is helpful.
5. When charging the spheres, turn the power supply on, charge the spheres to the desired
value and then immediately turn the supply off. The high voltage at the terminals of the
supply can cause leakage currents which will affect the torsion balance.
6. When charging the spheres, hold the charging probe near the end of the handle, so your
hand is as far from the sphere as possible. If your hand is too close to the sphere, it will have
a capacitive effect, increasing the charge on the sphere for a given voltage. This effect should
be minimized so the charge on the spheres can be accurately reproduced when recharging
during the experiment.
7. Surface contamination on the rods that support the charged spheres can cause charge
leakage. To prevent this, avoid handling these parts as much as possible and occasionally
wipe them with alcohol to remove contamination.
8. There will always be some charge leakage. Perform measurements as quickly as possible
after charging, to minimize the leakage effects.
9. Discharge the spheres completely and recharge them before each measurement.
Remember that the spheres should be at maximum separation while charging them.
Ref:

1. Company manual
2. http://pms.iitk.ernet.in/wiki/index.php/Coulom’s_law_its_experimental_verification_a
nd_validity